Method and system for sending facsimile transmissions from mobile devices

ABSTRACT

A system and method for sending facsimile transmissions from mobile devices via web servers wherein a mobile device receives and displays a limited subset of available data on an installed display, a user decides to receive more information than is possible to display on the mobile device display, in hard copy format at a certain locus or elsewhere. The information is ordered using the mobile device and received from the server by facsimile transmission via any facsimile system at any telephone number specified. By this system and method, any facsimile system anywhere becomes an accessible printer. Further, screen snapshots of the limited data appearing on mobile digital communication device displays, complete reproductions of unlimited data represented on the mobile device, and other information specified via the mobile device, including webpages may be reproduced in hard copy format by facsimile transmission.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of mobile communicationsdevices such as digital cellular telephones, wireless access protocol(WAP) devices, personal digital assistants, portable web browsers,portable computers, and two-way pagers. Specifically, the presentinvention relates to a system and method for sending information,including but not limited to web-based information, under controlthrough a mobile device to any facsimile (Fax) system.

2. Related Art

As electronic components required for wireless communications deviceshave reduced in size, portability of such devices has been enhanced.This portability has led to the development of readily portable wirelesscommunications devices, including a host of mobile devices. As mobilewireless digital communication devices have advanced and proliferated,they are being used in a range of applications wherein they areretrieving and displaying information. One of the more widely usedmobile wireless digital communication devices which is being used toretrieve and display information is the digital cellular telephone.Other mobile wireless communication devices with such informationretrieval and display capability include personal digital assistants(PDA), portable computers, portable web browsers, wireless accessprotocol (WAP) devices, and two-way pagers.

Digital cellular telephones and other such mobile wireless digitalcommunications devices may incorporate integral display capability. Suchintegral display capability may reside in a screen, which may be a flatpanel display screen typified by such display mechanisms as a liquidcrystal display (LCD), a field emission display, also called a flatpanel CRT (cathode ray tube), or other display mechanism suitable forgenerating alphanumeric characters and graphic images recognizable tothe user. In order to maximize their portability, mobile digitalcommunications devices may include components selected for combiningcharacteristics such as small size, ruggedness, and low powerconsumption. This may include the display mechanism components. Suchdisplay mechanism components may be thin, have small dimensions, and mayalso have a relatively small area, including their actual display area.

Mobile wireless digital communications devices may communicate via theInternet with servers. Such servers have the capabilities to communicatewith other devices, to access information, and to respond to directioncommunicated by the mobile devices. Communicating with these servers,the mobile devices have access to all of the information the server mayhave access to. This capability markedly enhances the scope of utilityof mobile devices.

The enhancement of application capability of mobile devices has facedcertain constraints. These constraints include an inability of mobiledevices to fully and adequately present the information they may accessthrough a server to the user. One limitation of mobile devicescontributing to this constraint results from the small screen size ofthe display mechanism. The small display screens may have a limitedarea. Consequently, the alphanumeric characters or images that may bedisplayed thereon may be restricted. The small screen area itself maypresent a limitation to information display capability. Only so muchinformation may be displayed in any finite area, yet the display screenof a mobile device is small by design. The constraints presented bytheir small screens may lead users of mobile devices to desire more ofthe information available through accessible servers than the mobiledevices may be capable of presenting.

Mobile devices are carried and used anywhere. Access to information isthus made available anywhere also, including the plethora of informationavailable through servers a mobile device may access. In somecircumstances, users of mobile devices may want hard copies ofinformation displayed on their mobile device screen. However, they maybe someplace or in some circumstance in which they do not have access toa printer. For example, a salesperson may be in a mobile vehicle, or ata client's site, speaking via a cellular digital telephone with anoffice across the country, or interacting with a company website. Inresponse to a query regarding the status of an order, they receive fromthe office or server the shipping dates for two or three items on themobile device display screen. The user may desire a hard copy of thisdata. The user is constrained by these circumstances to transcribing theinformation appearing on the mobile device screen by manual writing.Thus, there may be no convenient way for this user to obtain a hard copyof information displayed on a mobile device screen.

Further, a user of a mobile device may personally be satisfied in acertain circumstance with the limited subset of information, distilledfrom the great quantity of related information available on the serverwith which the mobile device is interacting, displayed on his mobiledevice screen. However, the user may want to send a hard copy of theentire available related information to another destination. Forexample, the salesperson above may be satisfied with knowing theshipping date the cellular digital telephone screen displays as hedrives in a vehicle, but a customer requests a hard copy of the entireorder, with prices, quantities, descriptions, shipping charges, shippingdestination, insurance data, delivery dates, plants of origin, taxes,and a host of related information from the order document, in additionto the shipping date. Another example may be a teacher on a field tripwith a class. In response to a question by a student, the teacheraccesses a website via a server over a mobile device such as a cellulartelephone or portable web browser. She is able to obtain enoughinformation to answer the question from her mobile device screen, butdesires a hard copy of the entire webpage for later reference.

In the prior art, one method of circumventing the problem presented bythe limited information display capabilities of mobile devices has beento increase the size of the screens. However, this may consequentlyincrease the size and weight of the mobile devices themselves, withadverse affect on portability.

A second method has been to reduce the size of the images displayed tofit more information on the same small screen area. However, this may beadverse to a user's ability to see the information that is beingdisplayed on the screen of a mobile device. For example, the font sizeof alphanumeric characters spelling words or forming numbers beingdisplayed on a screen may be reduced, but beyond a certain sizereduction, they may become illegible unless a separate magnifier isused. This may be cumbersome and inconvenient, and may lead to otherproblems, such as losing or forgetting a magnifier, or an inability ofdifferent users with incompatible eyesights to use the same magnifier.Further, display screen mechanisms in mobile devices may be limited bytheir own construction or operating characteristics in their abilitiesto display information such as very small alphanumeric characters orgraphical images with meaningful detail. This limitation may be a factorof their resolution, also limited by their small size in a mobiledevice.

One method in the prior art of producing hard copies of informationdisplayed on mobile device screens has been simple transcription by handof the information. For example, a user communicating on a cellulardigital telephone while mobile may attempt to write the displayedinformation down on a notepad. However, this is grossly inconvenient.Handwriting while mobile may prove illegible. Also, pens and/or pads maynot be conveniently accessible just when needed most for this purpose.Further, notes so written may easily be misplaced. Further still, usinga mobile device while attempting to find a pad and pen, reading thescreen, writing a legible transcription of the information displayed onthe screen, may be disconcerting. Also, if more information than a fewsimple lines of data is being accessed, it may be inconvenient to writeit all down manually under the best of circumstances.

The problem of generating hard copies of the greater amounts ofinformation available through the server to which mobile devices areconnected has been dealt with in the prior art in one way by findingother resources or obtaining assistance from other persons with accessto such resources. For example, the teacher desiring a hard copy of aparticular webpage accessed via a cellular digital telephone or othermobile device and a server while on a field trip could have to note theuniform resource locator (URL) of the website of interest, find acomputer with both Internet and printer access, or a web browser and aprinter, access the website in interest a second time from the computeror browser, and have that machine print the website on an associatedprinter. Alternatively, she could call another person, and if they wereavailable and not otherwise occupied, they could be given the URLidentity over the phone and asked to access it, download it, and printit, and then transmit the printed copy by facsimile machine to afacsimile machine the teacher had access to at that location. Anotherexample is the salesperson responding to the request of a customer for acomplete copy of the order off of which the status was just reported bya server on the cellular digital telephone or other mobile devicescreen. He may have to discommunicate with the server and his customer,call someone in his office, who may or may not be available, anddescribe the needed information and where it can be found, request thatthey send the specified information to the customer by facsimiletransmission, e-mail attachment, or by some similar medium, and have totell them the customer's facsimile machine telephone number or e-mailaddress, etc. This solution is inconvenient and inefficient.

Thus, the solutions to the problems of insufficient information onmobile device displays and producing hard copies of either the limitedinformation on the mobile device screens or of the greater amounts ofrelated information from which the mobile device screen display wasdistilled are inconvenient, inefficient, and impractical.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method that can provide auser of a mobile device with more information than the mobile device iscapable of displaying, allow the user to access various types ofinformation from any information source, and provide the user with the acapability of downloading information from a mobile device into hardcopy anywhere while not limiting mobility. The present inventionprovides a novel solution to these needs.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a method is executed by aserver, communicating with a mobile device. The server retrieves andcommunicates information by first receiving an instruction from themobile device identifying information to be communicated, formattingthat information for facsimile transmission compatibility, andtransmitting the information to a facsimile system. The server may alsoformat the information for compatibility with the mobile device and sendthe information to the mobile phone.

In another embodiment, a server system is described which has thecapability to communicate with a mobile device, retrieve information,and communicate the information by first receiving an instruction fromthe mobile device identifying information to be communicated, formattingthat information for facsimile transmission compatibility, andtransmitting the information to a facsimile system. The system may alsoformat the information for compatibility with the mobile device and sendthe information to the mobile phone.

In another implementation of the present invention, a method is executedby a mobile device which has the capability to communicate with a serversystem. The communications between the mobile device and the server maybe wireless, and enabled by any existing wireless technology, includingbut not limited to radio, microwave, infrared, optical, or otherelectromagnetic or telephonic medium, or technology yet to be developed.In this implementation, a mobile device sends a request for informationto a server and receives the Information in response, displays theinformation, and instructs the server to transmit the information to afacsimile system, which is designated by the mobile device. Theinformation to be transmitted by facsimile may be simply what isdisplayed on the mobile device display screen. Alternatively, it may bethe entire corpus of information available at or to the server,corresponding to the information displayed on the mobile device screen.

It is further appreciated that the present invention enables thetransmission of information by facsimile to any facsimile system at anytelephone number, anywhere. Thus, the present invention enables anyfacsimile system to become an accessible printer to and for any mobiledevice implementing an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention encompasses systems and methods for sendingfacsimile transmissions from mobile devices via a web server or otherserver. A mobile device such as a digital cellular telephone, personaldigital assistant (PDA), portable computer, portable web browser, twoway pager, etc., receives and displays to a user a limited subset ofavailable data on an installed display. The user decides to receive moreinformation than is possible to display on the mobile device display, inhard copy format. Reception may be at a certain locus or suchinformation may be sent to another locus. The user inputs a fax commandto the mobile device and receives such additional information from theserver by facsimile transmission via any facsimile machine at anytelephone number specified. By an embodiment of this invention, anyfacsimile system anywhere becomes an accessible printer device for anymobile device anywhere. An embodiment of the present invention allowsthe information to be reproduced in hard copy format by facsimiletransmission to the specified facsimile system by a server, which is incommunication with the device. Such communication may be via theInternet.

Screen snapshots of the limited data appearing on mobile devicedisplays, complete reproductions of unlimited data represented by themobile device display images, and other information specified via themobile digital communication device may constitute the information. Whatmay be sent includes webpages, which may be designated by their URLs,designated PDF files, e-mail to text displays, and voice to textdisplays, or any other electronically formattable data.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome obvious to those of ordinary skill in the at after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiments which areillustrated in the drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a server system for performing the steps inthe method of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A depicts a system wherein a mobile device such as a cellulardigital telephone produces a hard copy of information from a server onany facsimile system in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2B depicts a system wherein a mobile device such as a cellulardigital telephone produces a hard copy on a facsimile system of websitesaccessed via a server in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of the steps in an exemplary process wherein ahard copy is produced by a facsimile system of information displayed ona mobile device in accordance with one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of the steps in an exemplary process wherein ahard copy is produced of information displayed on a mobile device inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention on facsimilesystems with any telephone number.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the steps in an exemplary process wherein afull body of available information of information displayed in limitedformat on a mobile device is transmitted by a server via facsimile inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the steps in an exemplary process wherein thefull content of a webpage or other information accessed by a mobiledevice in limited format is transmitted by a server by facsimile inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of the steps in an exemplary process whereininformation desired from another locus is transmitted via facsimile by aserver under control of a mobile device in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description of the present invention, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. However, it will be recognizedby one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practicedwithout these specific details or with equivalents thereof. In otherinstances, well known methods, procedures, components, and circuits havenot been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects ofthe present invention.

Notation and Nomenclature

Some portions of the detailed descriptions, which follow, are presentedin terms of procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, and othersymbolic representations of operations on data bits that can beperformed by computer systems. These descriptions and representationsare used by those skilled in the data processing arts to mosteffectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in theart. A procedure, computer executed step, logic block, process, etc., ishere, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of stepsor instructions leading to a desired result. The steps are thoserequiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, thoughnot necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical ormagnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined,compared, and otherwise manipulated in a computer system. It has provenconvenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to referto these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms,numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the followingdiscussions, it is appreciated that throughout the present invention,discussions utilizing terms such as “commanding” or “communicating” or“coupling” or “designating” or “displaying” or “formatting” or“informing” or “instructing” or “networking” or “performing” or“processing” or “receiving” or “retrieving” or “sending” or“transmitting” or the like, refer to the action and processes of acomputer system, or similar electronic computing device, thatmanipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic)quantities within the communications and computer systems' registers andmemories into other data similarly represented as physical quantitieswithin the computer system memories or registers or other suchinformation storage, transmission, or display devices.

The present invention is discussed primarily in the context of aportable or mobile digital communication system, such as a cellulardigital telephone or personal digital assistant, with the capability toaccess data on servers through connection via compatible interfaces,such as wireless networks and the Internet. However, it is appreciatedthat the present invention can be used with other types of devices thathave the capability to access some type of server, central device orcentral site, including but not limited to computer systems includingbut not limited to desktop, laptop and portable computers, wirelessaccess protocol (WAP) devices, portable Web browsers, Web basedtelevisions, mobile digital radios, two-way pagers, and personalcommunication systems. Further, it is appreciated that facsimilereproduction can be accomplished by facsimile systems such as FAXmachines, as well as printers, document centers, and other documentreproduction and other reproduction systems connected to computers orother communications systems.

Exemplary Mobile Device—Server Facsimile Transmission System

Exemplary Server

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting an exemplary server system forimplementing embodiments of the present invention. Server system 103hosts a processor 1050 which implements the processes enabling thepresent invention. In the present embodiment, server system 103 is anytype of intelligent electronic system (e.g., a desktop or other computersystem, a computer network, communication system or network, a datacenter, etc.). However, It is appreciated that the present invention mayalso be implemented utilizing any other viable server architecture, orby any functional equivalent.

Continuing with reference to FIG. 1, server system 103 includes anaddress/data bus 1001 for communicating information, a central processor1050 coupled with the bus 1001 for processing information andinstructions, and a memory unit 1010 (e.g., random access memory and/orread only memory) and a data storage system 1015 coupled with the bus1001 for storing information and instructions. Data storage system 1015may be any magnetic and/or optical disc and drive/reader, or any otherdata storage device. In one implementation of the present invention, themethods described, including but not limited to enabling servercommunication and interaction with mobile devices (e.g., instruction,command, control, input, formatting and sending, etc.), serverinformation retrieval (e.g., conversion, formatting, sending,transmitting, etc.), and server communication with facsimile systems(e.g., formatting and sending), are executed by processor 1050, whichmay be an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Alternatively,these methods may be implemented by processor 1050 executing a programstored in memory 1010 and/or data storage system 1015. It is appreciatedthat server system 103 may implement the invention by combinations ofthese schemes, or by alternatives other than those pictured. It isappreciated that server system 103 can include other elements not shown.It is further appreciated that server system 103 may be constituted byany functional equivalent, or by any viable alternative architecture.

In the present embodiment, server system 103 also optionally contains adisplay device 1040 coupled to the bus 100 for displaying information tosystem operators. The display device 1040 utilized with system 1000 maybe a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, a cathode ray tube (CRT), afield emission display device (also called a flat panel CRT), or otherdisplay device suitable for generating graphic images and alphanumericcharacters recognizable to the operators.

Server system 103 also includes a communications device 1030, which iscoupled to bus 1001 for providing a communication link between serversystem 103 and other systems. Communications device 1030 may enablenetwork interactions, Internet connections, wireless communications, andlinks with various communication modalities.

In one embodiment, server system 103 of FIG. 1 includes host interfacecircuitry 1020 coupled to bus 1001. Host interface circuitry 1020includes an optional digital signal processor (DSP) 1022 for processingdata to be transmitted or data that are received via communicationsdevice 1030. Alternatively, processor 1050 can perform some or all ofthe functions performed by DSP 1022.

Also included in server system 103 is an optional alphanumeric inputdevice 1060. Alphanumeric input device 1060 can communicate informationand command selections to processor 1050 via bus 1001. In oneimplementation, alphanumeric input device 1060 is a keyboard.

Server system 103 also includes an optional cursor control or directingdevice (on-screen cursor control 1080) coupled to bus 1001 forcommunicating operator input information and command selections toprocessor 1050. In one implementation, on-screen cursor control 1080 isa trackball, mouse, joystick or special keys on alphanumeric inputdevice 1060 capable of signaling movement of a given direction or mannerof displacement. It is to be appreciated that the on-screen cursorcontrol 1080 also may be directed and/or activated via input from thekeyboard using special keys and key sequence commands. In oneimplementation, on-screen cursor control device 1080 is a touch screendevice incorporated with display device 1040 and capable of registeringa position on display device 1040 where a stylus element makes contact.

Exemplary System

An exemplary system for sending a facsimile transmission from a mobilecommunications device such as a cellular digital telephone is depictedin FIG. 2A. In one embodiment of the present invention, mobile device101 may be in wireless communications with server 103 over the Internet102. The user of mobile device 101, such as a cellular telephone, maytransmit instructions, as in exemplary pathway (1 a) to server 103 bycontrols on the mobile device, to access certain information. Server 103correspondingly accesses the specified information and may convert itinto a format compatible for display on mobile device 101, such aswireless markup language (WML) or some other protocol. In oneimplementation, this conversion may be accompanied by simultaneousediting and compression to enable display on the mobile device 101display mechanism 101A. This may be accomplished by using filteringsoftware or other processes extant or yet to be developed. Server 103may then transmit the information back to mobile device 101 overInternet 102, as in exemplary pathway (1 b).

Mobile device 101 may display a representation of the information on anappurtenant display mechanism 101 a. This displayed information may be alimited version of the specified information as available at the server.Upon viewing the information as displayed by mechanism 101 a, the usermay decide to embody a hard copy of the information. In oneimplementation of the present invention, the user may elect from severalpossibilities. The user may elect to: print a screenshot of theinformation as displayed on mobile device 101 by display mechanism 101a; to print out the entire corpus of specified information, as accessedby server 103; or to print related data referenced by the informationaccessed by server 103. The mobile device 101 may then communicateinstructions to server 103, including the user's election, to print ahard copy 106, along with the telephone number of a facsimile system105, as in exemplary pathway (1 c). Any operational facsimile systemanywhere, at any accessible telephone number, may be designated to printthe hard copy 106.

Upon receipt of a hard copy printing and election command, server 103may convert the information as specified, such as by rasterization, orby any other process known or to be developed, into a format compatiblewith facsimile transmission, including, but not limited to, G3 and TIFFstandard facsimile protocols, in accordance with one embodiment of theinvention. Upon conversion to a facsimile compatible format, server 103may then transmit the information to any designated facsimile system 105anywhere, at any accessible telephone number, in one implementation viaa facsimile gateway 104, as in exemplary pathway (1 d). Upon receipt ofthe transmitted data from the facsimile gateway 104, facsimile system105 prints a hard copy 106 of the specified information. If the userelected to print only a screenshot of the information as it appeared atmobile device 101 on display mechanism 101 a, then facsimile system 105receives this screenshot as transmitted from server 103 and prints ahard copy 106 rendering a reproduction of the information as displayedat the mobile device 101, which may have been a limited version of theentire corpus of specified information available at server 103, perhapsonly restricted alphanumeric and limited graphical information.

However, if the user elected to print the entire corpus of informationavailable at server 103, facsimile system 105 receives this informationas transmitted by server 103 and prints a hard copy 106 rendering theinformation as available at the server 103. Such information may includean entire webpage or document. Although the information displayed atmobile device 101 may have been a limited representation of the fullcorpus of information as specified to and available at the server 103,perhaps due to size and resolution restrictions of mobile device displaymechanism 101 a, hard copy 106 as printed by facsimile system 105 maymore fully reproduce the information as it is available at server 103.This may include full document and webpage reproductions, includinggraphical information such as pictures and designs, as well asselections of font for alphanumerically rendered text.

If the user elected to print related data referenced by the informationspecified to the server 103, server 103 retrieves that referenced data,converts it into facsimile compatible format, and sends it via facsimilegateway 104. This may include another webpage or document. Upon receiptof this transmission, facsimile system 105 prints a hard copy 106rendering the referenced information.

FIG. 2B depicts an exemplary system for accessing and transmittingwebpages by a mobile device for facsimile reproduction in accordancewith one implementation of the present invention. A mobile device 101such as a cellular digital telephone is in communications with server103 via the Internet 102. A user sends a command to server 103 to accessa particular webpage by designating by the webpage's unique universalresource locator (URL). The user may implement this designation byinputting the webpage URL into mobile device 101, as in exemplarypathway (2 a). Upon receipt of this command, server 103 may contactcontent server 107, as in exemplary pathway (2 e) and select forretrieval the designated webpage from among the webpages 108 accessiblethereon, as in exemplary pathway (2 f).

When the designated webpage has been retrieved, server 103 may edit andcompress the information therein, convert it into a format compatiblewith transmission to and display at mobile device 101, and send it tomobile device 101, as in exemplary pathway (2 b). Upon receiving theinformation, mobile device 101 may display it, perhaps in some limitedversion compatible with its display capability, upon display mechanism101 a. The user may view it there and decide to download and print ahard copy of the webpage in its entirety, including pictures and othergraphical content and complete alphanumeric and other textual content ata facsimile system 105. If a decision to download and print the websiteis made, the user may transmit a facsimile command to server 103, as inexemplary pathway (2 c) and may designate a facsimile system 105 bytelephone number.

Upon receiving a facsimile command, server 103 converts the webpageinformation content into a facsimile compatible format and transmits thewebpage thus converted to designated facsimile system 105, as inexemplary pathway (2 d). Upon receipt of the transmission, facsimilesystem 105 downloads the webpage and prints a hard copy 106 of the fullwebpage information content, including full alphanumeric and othertextual content and pictures and other graphical information.

Besides the designated webpage, other embodiments of the inventionenable webpages referenced by the designated webpage to be transmittedby facsimile. Other embodiments allow designated documents to be printedas well. For example, a designated document may be transmitted byfacsimile in this manner by reference to it as a PDF file.

Exemplary Mobile Device—Server Facsimile Transmission Methods

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an exemplary process 300 wherein a mobiledevice user sends a facsimile transmission via a server in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention. The parts of process 300executed by a server (e.g., server 103, FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B) can beimplemented via computer-readable program instructions stored in amemory unit (e.g., memory 1010, FIG. 1) and/or data storage device(e.g., data storage device 1015, FIG. 1), and executed by a processor(e.g., processor 1050) in server 103.

Observing information accessed by a server (such as server 103, FIGS.2A, 2B) on the display mechanism (such as display 101A, FIGS. 2A, 2B) ofa mobile device (such as device 101, FIGS. 2A, 2B), step 301, the userdecides if downloading and embodiment in a hard copy is desired, step302, If not, no further activity occurs, step 302B. However, the usermay decide to download and print a hard copy of the information (such ashard copy 106, FIGS. 2A, 2B), by facsimile transmission. If so, the userselects a “Fax” command using the mobile device 101, step 302A. This istransmitted to the server 103, and instructs the server 103 to provide ahard copy (such as hard copy 106, FIGS. 2A, 2B), step 303. Software withwhich the server 103 is programmed enables the server 103 to respond tothis instruction accordingly, and to convert the information into aformat compatible with facsimile transmission, step 304, such as byrasterization or by some other process, existing or yet to be developed.Such formats include, but are not limited to G3, TIFF, and otherfacsimile protocols. Upon conversion, the server 103 transmits theinformation by facsimile transmission.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary process 400 wherein a mobiledevice user sends a facsimile transmission via a server in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention. The parts of process 400executed by a server (e.g., server 103, FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B) can beimplemented via computer-readable program instructions stored in amemory unit (e.g., memory 1010, FIG. 1) and/or data storage device(e.g., data storage device 1015, FIG. 1), and executed by a processor(e.g., processor 1050) in server 103.

Observing information accessed by a server (such as server 103, FIGS.2A, 2B) on the display mechanism (such as display 101A, FIGS. 2A, 2B) ofa mobile device (such as device 101, FIGS. 2A, 2B), step 401, the userdecides if downloading and embodiment in a hard copy is desired, step402. If not, no further activity occurs, step 402B. However, the usermay decide to download and print a hard copy of the information (such ashard copy 106, FIGS. 2A, 2B), by facsimile transmission. If so, the userselects a “Fax” command using the mobile device, step 402A. The mobiledevice 101 responds to this fax command, with an on-screen display step403, to prompt the user to enter a telephone number to designate thefacsimile system (such as system 105, FIGS. 2A, 2B) to whichtransmission, and by which downloading and printing of hard copy (suchas hard copy 106, FIGS. 2A, 2B), is desired.

If the user inputs a fax number into the mobile device, step 404, thisnumber is sent to the server 103 to designate a destination facsimilesystem for corresponding facsimile transmission, step 404A. The server103 will accordingly be instructed to transmit the information to thisfax number, step 405A.

If the user decides in step 404 to download and print by a pre-selectedfacsimile system with a preset or programmed default telephone number,the default number is transmitted to the server 103, step 404B.Alternatively, another embodiment of the invention may have a defaultfax number programmed into the server 103. In either implementation, theserver 103 is accordingly instructed to transmit the information to thedefault fax number.

Directed to transmit to a specified number, the server 103 converts theinformation retrieved into a format compatible with transmission byfacsimile, step 406. Such formats include, but are not limited to G3,TIFF, and other facsimile protocols. Conversion may be accomplished byrasterizing the information, but may be done by other processes extantor yet to be developed. Upon conversion, the server 103 transmits theinformation by facsimile transmission to the designated number, step407.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary process 500 wherein a mobiledevice (such as device 101, FIGS. 2A, 2B) displaying information inlimited format as provided by a server to download and embody in hardcopy the complete version of such information, as available at theserver 103, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.The parts of process 500 executed by a server (e.g., server 103, FIGS.1, 2A, 2B) can be implemented via computer-readable program instructionsstored in a memory unit (e.g., memory 1010, FIG. 1) and/or data storagedevice (e.g., data storage device 1015, FIG. 1), and executed by aprocessor (e.g., processor 1050) in server 103.

In step 501, information received from a server (such as server 103,FIGS. 2A, 2B) in wireless markup language (WML) version, or some otherprotocol, is displayed on a screen (such as display 101A, FIG. 2A)appurtenant to a mobile device (such as device 101, FIGS. 2A, 2B),perhaps in some limited form, due to constraints of the displaymechanism, as enabled by filtering software or other means. The userdecides in step 502 if more information is desired. If not, no furtheractions occur, step 502B.

However, if the limited information displayed on-screen by the mobiledevice causes the user to decide in step 502 to download and print moreinformation, such as the information in the entire form and contentavailable at the server 103, the user may select a “Fax” command by themobile device 101, step 502A. This command transmitted by the mobiledevice to the server instructs the server to provide the entire, fullversion of the information available at the server, step 503. Softwarewith which the server 103 may be programmed causes the server 103 torespond to this instruction by rasterizing or otherwise converting theentire body of information into a format compatible with facsimiletransmission, step 504. Such a format may be fax protocols such as G3 orTIFF, but are not so limited by the present invention. Further, anyinformation available at the server 103 can be so converted, includingbut not limited to webpages, documents, and other data. Once converted,the server 103 executes step 505, transmitting the entire corpus ofavailable information to any facsimile system (such as facsimile system105, FIGS. 2A, 2B).

FIG. 600 is a flowchart of an exemplary process 600 wherein a mobiledevice (such as device 101, FIGS. 2A, 2B) controls a server to transmitthe entire contents of a website to a designated facsimile system, inaccordance with one implementation of the present invention. The partsof process 600 executed by a server (e.g., server 103, FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B)can be implemented via computer-readable program instructions stored ina memory unit (e.g., memory 1010, FIG. 1) and/or data storage device(e.g., data storage device 1015, FIG. 1), and executed by a processor(e.g., processor 1050) in server 103.

In step 601, information from a website is received from a server (suchas server 103, FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B) in wireless markup language (WML)version, or some other protocol, and displayed on a screen (such asdisplay 101A, FIGS. 2A, 2B) appurtenant to a mobile device (such asdevice 101, FIGS. 2A, 2B) in some limited form. This is accomplished byprocesses enabled by filtering software, or by other methods extant oryet to be developed. The user decides in step 602 if more information isdesired. If not, no further actions occur, step 602B.

However, if the website information displayed on-screen by the mobiledevice causes the user to decide in step 602 to download and print theentire webpage (such as webpages 108, FIG. 2B), such as is available inHyperText Markup Language (HTML) or some other format at the server 103,the user may select a “Fax” command by the mobile device 101, step 602A.In one embodiment, the server 103 is instructed accordingly to implementthe following actions on the webpage 108 then being displayed on themobile device 101. In another embodiment, the user designates thiswebpage 108, or a related or alternate webpage 108, by inputting theappropriate Universal Resource Locator (URL) to the mobile device 101,step 603A. In either embodiment, the user inputs a telephone number instep 603B to designate a facsimile system (such as facsimile system 105,FIGS. 2A, 2B) to download and print the webpage. In one embodiment, adefault fax number may designate a preselected facsimile system, if noother number is entered. The URL, if entered, along with the fax numberis sent in step 604 by the mobile device 101 to the server 103.

In step 605, the server may select the URL designated webpage 108. Instep 606, the server rasterizes or otherwise converts the webpage 108selected into a format compatible with facsimile transmission. Suchformats may include facsimile protocols such as G3 or TIFF, but are notso limited by the present invention. The server then transmits theselected webpage 108 to the designated fax number, step 607.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an exemplary process 700 by which a server(such as server 103, FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B) transmits specified information toa designated facsimile system (such as facsimile system 105, FIGS. 2A,2B). The parts of process 300 executed by a server (e.g., server 103,FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B) can be implemented via computer-readable programinstructions stored in a memory unit (e.g., memory 1010, FIG. 1) and/ordata storage device (e.g., data storage device 1015, FIG. 1), andexecuted by a processor (e.g., processor 1050) in server 103.

A user of a mobile device (such as device 101, FIGS. 2A, 2B) desiresinformation from another location, step 701. The user transmitsinstructions by the mobile device to a server (such as server 103, FIGS.1, 2A, 2B) by which the server 103 is instructed to retrieve informationfrom the specified source, step 702. In accordance with the instructionstransmitted, and software routines with which it is programmed, theserver 103 proceeds in step 703 to the specified location where theinformation may be found. In step 704, the server 103 may find thedesignated information and copy it, or may cause a content server (suchas content server 107, FIGS. 2A, 2B) to send it to server 103, as instep 705.

Once retrieved, the information is converted by the server 103 into afacsimile compatible format, such as rasterization to G3 or TIFF orother protocols, although the present invention does not restrictconversion to these protocols. In step 707, the server 103 transmits theinformation to any designated facsimile system 105. It should beappreciated that the present invention, by this and other embodiments,may download and print to any operational facsimile system.

In another embodiment, the various information recently retrieved isbrought up on a list, either stored in memory at the mobile device 101,or at the server 103, and selectively designated for conversion tofacsimile format and transmission to facsimile system 105. Theinformation so listed can be designated and faxed immediately uponretrieval of the list. Alternatively, the list can be stored, either atthe server 103 or at the mobile device 101, in a form which can berecalled at a later time and faxed. In one embodiment of thisimplementation, the information stored at server 103 is stored in itspre-conversion format. In another embodiment, it is stored in itspost-conversion, facsimile-compatible format.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a mobile device 101provides voice-mail, or similar voice or speech content data to a user.The user decides to embody this information in a hard copy format (suchas hard copy 106, FIGS. 2A, 2B), and does so by sending the fax command.The information provided to server 103 identifying the informationcontent to be so embodied, in this case the voice or speech contentdata, is converted by server 103 to a facsimile compatible format andtransmitted to facsimile system 105 (FIGS. 2A, 2B), where it is embodiedas a hard copy 106.

In summary, in accordance with an implementation of the presentinvention, a user of a mobile device may access more information thanthe mobile device is itself capable of displaying, may access varioustypes of information from any information source, and attains acapability of downloading information into hard copy anywhere, while notlimiting mobility, through any operational facsimile system.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method and systemfor sending facsimile transmissions from mobile devices via a server, isthus described. While the present invention has been described inparticular embodiments, it should be appreciated that the presentinvention should not be construed as limited by such embodiments, butrather construed according to the following claims.

1. An apparatus comprising: a mobile device to send a request forviewable data to a server system and to receive the viewable dataresponsive to the request, the mobile device including a displaymechanism to display at least a portion of the viewable data in adisplay window, wherein the mobile device is configured to send aprinting instruction to the server system responsive to displaying atleast the portion of the viewable data in the display window, theprinting instruction to request the server system retrieve one or moreprintable documents from a content server and transmit the printabledocument to an endpoint configured to print a hard copy of the printabledocument.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the printing instructionrequests the server system convert the printable document into a formcompatible with facsimile transmission and transmit the convertedprintable document to the endpoint.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, whereinthe printing instruction requests the server system transmit theconverted printable document to the endpoint without providing afacsimile number associated with the endpoint in the printinginstruction.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the mobile device isconfigured to send a location indicator in the printing instruction thatidentifies a default facsimile number stored within the server system,where the default facsimile number corresponds to the endpoint.
 5. Theapparatus of claim 2, wherein the printing instruction includes afacsimile number associated with the endpoint, and the printinginstruction requests the server system utilize the facsimile number whentransmitting the converted printable document to the endpoint.
 6. Amethod comprising: sending a request for viewable data to a serversystem; receiving the viewable data responsive to the request;displaying at least a portion of the viewable data in a display window;and sending a printing instruction to the server system responsive tothe displaying, the printing instruction to request the server systemretrieve one or more printable documents from a content server andtransmit the printable document to an endpoint configured to print ahard copy of the printable document.
 7. The method of claim 6, whereinthe printing instruction requests the server system convert theprintable document into a form compatible with facsimile transmissionand transmit the converted printable document to the endpoint.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the printing instruction requests the serversystem transmit the converted printable document to the endpoint withoutproviding a facsimile number associated with the endpoint in theprinting instruction.
 9. The method of claim 7, further comprisessending a location indicator in the printing instruction that identifiesa default facsimile number stored within the server system, where thedefault facsimile number corresponds to the endpoint.
 10. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the printing instruction includes a facsimile numberassociated with the endpoint, and the printing instruction requests theserver system utilize the facsimile number when transmitting theconverted printable document to the endpoint.